In The Service Of Heaven and Hell
by Aozoran
Summary: Set within the last few episodes of Chrno Crusade, comes another tale of Heaven and Hell... In the State of Maine, a new mission brings Sinners and the Angel of Death into the sights of the the Pursuers and the Magdalan Order...
1. Chapter 1: Where Grace Leads

Okay, I don't own Chrno Crusade, the Magdalan Order or that kind of things… But I do own Keziah, Samael, Zakk and Jamie… Well Zakk and Jamie are based on friends… Happily written into this first attempt at a fan fic… So Please Review and give me an idea whether I should continue or not with my story… Really I have no idea what people think of this… 

Ishi'vanah

In Service of Heaven and Hell Chapter One: Where Grace Leads 

**Scene One: Maine Forest Land…**

There was a silence that seemed to cast the world into darkness for a split second, the freezing Maine night was haunted with the powerful demonic auras that ranged about the ancient churchyard. The stone walls of the ruined church trembled, rattling the stone remains like a child would a doll house. Bricks where sent tumbling downward, the old bell half dangling by frayed ropes from its lofty tower, which clanged as it swung precariously.

The earth cracked apart, revealing a deep pit shimmering with the powers of hell. The intense heat made the grasses shrivel around the deep chasm in the earth. Heaven called downwards to draw up a flaming form from the great gap in the earth, outcast from Pandemonium yet embraced by God… For this being didn't belong in the demons' realm or the celestial ranks. The Angel of Death, a servant of two powers in the age old duty of cutting the ties of all beings souls from their mortal bodies. He carried many names, some forgotten over time, others remembered and written down in every Scripture of the world. Mythology called him both a Demon and an Angel, a being more often cursed then loved. How could the Death Bringer be loved?

A growl of pure annoyance came from his throat as he crossed his arms defiantly and glared down into the pit from where he had come… "Oh, would you shut up!" And instantly it fell silent again, why had he lingered so long in that run-down place? Why live in the chaos and have to deal with Devils wanting to best him? They wouldn't win against him… His anger however was more directed at the thief of his Sword… Samael was far from in a good mood. He had enough work as it was to complete now that Aion was having quite a party in the human realm.

"Much better." He huffed grouchily, turning his back abruptly on the pit, his four wings unfurling to stretch around his broad shoulders, the feathers a pure white where they came from the main support and greyed as they grew towards the earth into a pitch black. Jade-azure eyes gazed from underneath his long raven bangs that drifted down into his face, shadowing the furious rage roiling within him.

His clawed fingers curled into a fist, his pale skin like alabaster as he moved out from beneath the shadows of the hall-ruined bell tower and into the silvery glow of the half moon. "Time to go hunting…" And his form was wrapped in the folds of his two pairs of wings… as he faded into the deep night.

**Scene Two: Portland Docks**

"Oh, your crazy Zakk." Keziah rolled her eyes as she trotted along to keep pace with the taller teenager, her eyes flickering over his face as she chuckled. "I mean seriously what got you started in getting into his lab in the first place?" Poking him lightly in the shoulder, the grinning Keziah pushed back curly indigo bangs that had decided that was the best moment to flutter right into her face. "Seriously, you know he would skin you alive if he found you in there again…"

The youth just smirked. "But he didn't, did he, Keziah?"

Shaking her head, Kez just turned on him sharply, planting a hand in the centre of his chest. "Just wait, I bet he will work it out you were in there… I can imagine him snarling and pacing like a caged animal just waiting til you get back… Then pounce on you and tear you to bits."

And all Zakk did was raise a light brown eyebrow in question. "You sure he will ever figure it out?" The boy's blue eyes sparkled with the thrill of success at some odd accomplishment that made her wonder what exactly he had been up to in that old Laboratory. "Dear White Raven, I highly doubt he will ever know if is missing, considering the state of chaos his workshop is always in."

That comment made the older girl freeze and stare at him, her yellow-silver eyes blinked in surprise at that, her partner always seemed to be getting into things. No matter how reckless they were. "So… you got it?" The smile slowly spread across her lips at his slight nod, she had been dying to get her hands on this... "Really? I mean since the Order did commission me to trace down the supposed 'Angel of Death'… I would need this even if it is a fake."

The long package was held up in his right hand, a smug self-confident grin flared to life on his handsome face. "You think I couldn't get it?" He held his free hand over his heart, giving a dramatic 'wounded' look. "How could you doubt me? Me of all people?"

"Yes Mr Dramatic, considering some of your stunts have ended up with both of us stuck in rather odd situations, including you being superglued to certain objects… yeah I could doubt you not finding it." Reaching out to take the cloth bound blade, the Mercenary grinned wolfishly, hugging the light haired teen cheerfully. "BUT thankyou anyway…"

Though unallied with any force, the girl was still a prominent player in dealing with the Devils that popped up around the forested state of Maine, besides the Magdalan Order. Shivering a little, when she pulled the trench coat tighter around her body, Kez held it up, carefully pulling the sheathed weapon from the cotton bindings. The cool metal was smooth under her fingers as she traced the hilt of the long sword, her familiarity of the more archaic weapons showing as she hefted the length before her. Eyes travelling down its covered length, while her gaze flickered out into the harbour, following the line it drew down the centre of the landscape. "Its meant to be a few thousand years old… yet it looks like it was forged yesterday." The Mercenary mused lightly, flipping it around to stow it in the spare belt loop beneath the heavy black coat that she quickly tied back around her thin frame. "It's not evil."

At that Brother Zakk jerked his head up, head cocked to the side in question at her odd statement. "How can a 'sword' said to belong to the Angel of Death not be evil? Come on, he severe people's spirits from their bodies. He kills people, or that is what they say…"

The girl touched the worn hilt gently, her mind trying to decide why she had said it wasn't 'evil'. "I guess, 'he' isn't evil. He simply is doing the duty God and Pandaemonia set for him. Consider, how could spirits rejoin the Astral Lines if their energy couldn't properly be released to allow them to return from the mortal plain?"

Before the Brother could reply, Keziah grabbed his hand, dragging him along the dockside as she stared down at her pocket watch, "Ack! We are going to be late!"

**Scene Three: Magdalan Order Headquarters, Portland Branch**

"Keziah Aaron. It has been a long time since I have seen you enter this office." Father David gave her a stern doing over, eying the youth with a rather disappointed look from behind his large gold rimmed frames.

"Yes, two years since I quit the Order. Now don't even start with me over that, Father Dave." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring straight back at him, while poor Zakk wanted to sink deeper into the large chair he now occupied in the office. "I don't give a crap about you, I get the job done, okay! I ain't for killin' Devils, cause I got other ways of dealin' with them… Plus I ain't a murderer."

There was a kind of odd respect now in the old man's grey eyes, his shock of greying hair made him look far older than his forty-five years. It was the stress of the job as Kez knew quite well. However he want not above wanting to beat the child into respect for his position. Considering that she had even agreed to assist the understaffed Order, he would not go too far about the fact that she had indeed left the Order… because the girl had found a different way of dealing with the problems of Demons instead of bullets. Whatever way that was… he still had no clue… she was a secretive one…

"True, that is why I chose to ask whether you would accept a Mission with Brother Zakk Bellamy, since you two seem to get along." _Yeah, and his also your Nephew,_ she added mentally, s_o you can get all the bloody facts. _"I want you two to track down the Devil, who calls himself Samael, he claims to be the Angel of Death… though that has never been confirmed. He's been sighted upstate near the town of Lewiston… I want him tracked and taken care of. We don't need another one running around upstate and causing massive panic… like they are currently dealing with over in San Francesco."

Zakk nodded slowly, his messy brown hair making him look about twelve right then as Kez just stared at both of them for a long moment, absorbing the information and also the name of the supposed 'demon'. It was him. The one being she had been trying to trace through history had just turned up right on her doorstep. This was called irony.

"So… we get to go on a good old Devil hunt?" The large blue eyes twisted to train on the bearded Father slouched over in his big wooden chair behind his enormous desk, which dwarfed him and also played home to a massive about of paperwork. "Cool."

She felt sorry for the Father, only because of the towers of papers that seemed to want to fall over on top of him. The dimly lit little office was too cramped for the paperwork, and the three of them… "As long as the little Raven agrees…" The strong French accent made Keziah want to cringe, how was anyone meant to even understand what the hell he had just said? "So Miss Aaron, what do you say?"

Rolling her yellow eyes at him, from where she had been standing on the other side of the desk, she took a step back. "You're blackmailing me and you know it." Canadian family… French home grown… And not a bit charming. "Enough from you, Father Davie…. I don't wanna start on this now. I have clearly plenty to worry about with my new 'mission'." A flash of her hand as she waved at him, her other ruffled Zakk's hair as she passed… "I can't stand him okay Zakk… You can have a family reunion. I have to pack for our little trip."

And the door slammed behind her leaving the two men wondering just what exactly had gotten the Mercenary so damned worked up.

"Wonder what her problem is?" Zakk said softly, gazing back at the Father for answers. "You know don't you? Was she right about the blackmail, Uncle?"

With a groan from the chair when he leaned forwards to rest his elbows on the hard desktop, The greying Canadian nodded slowly. "We need her, Zakk. For all her skills and talents, she was the best Militia we had… He was the source of her gifts. We need Samael alive to help with certain research we are preforming, and the only one really capable of handling him and being able to contain him is Keziah."

'Him?"

"We call him a Devil, Samael… she knows him by a different name. She can track him, Keziah Aaron is not entirely human because of what that Devil did to her… For all that demon blood in her veins, she is still mortal."

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The girl in question leaned against the wall in the shower block, having taken to returning there when no one was about in this cold afternoon weather, since the tiles and heavy stone were freezing to the touch. Numbed by the cold, she had hidden in there… not wanting to face anyone at that particular moment. Her fist slammed into the mirror, shattering it under the deadly force behind the blow, the shards cutting her skin as she watched the droplets splatter down into the basin before her. The shower of glass shards around her tinkled when it hit the tiles and her leather trenchcoat which thankfully repelled it.

"Devil and Demon he calls you. Father David hasn't got a clue." Slender fingers gently traced over the hilt of the sword, now with this proof in her possession, she knew she could find him. "Devil Samael? Or is it Azrael as you should be… You granted me a second chance at life, yet these gifts have cost me too much."

Silver gold eyes stared back at her, the first visible sign of the blood rushing around in her veins… "Was it a kind of Contract between us? It turned me into something I don't even understand." The pointed ears hidden by her long mane of indigo hair was one reason she had dared not to stay in the Militia. Many humans called her a Devil too… She was… not a hybrid, was not completely human. Only Azrael had the answers to her questions. "Why did he let me live?"

Everyone was born to die. It depended how much Astral energy was in their soul… She had nearly nothing when born… so young and damaged, blind and helpless. Yet… _"Without darkness, there can be no light…"_ His voice rang through her head, her clawed hands resting on the smooth sink left claw marks as they clenched in remembrance, red trails also stained the shattered mirror before her.

"I finally understood what that meant." An anguished chuckle rose from her as she stared at the fragments of herself reflected in each facet of splintered glass. "I understood what I was doing to the Demons… and changed my ways… the Order is wrong. No one has the right to kill another living being. No matter what the crime, there is always a better way then killing."

"_Because everyone has their time to die…" _Yet, another thought fluttered into her mind when she simply looked at herself in the broken mirror and a warm smile came to her lips. "Because fate given by God has determined where we must travel upon this earth and into the next." A few simple words and she had been taught a lesson in faith. There was a form in the glass behind her, a dark shadow clinging to the stones over her shoulder…

Spinning around, uncertain what she would see. There was no one there… Shaking her head, Keziah leaned forwards to run her injured hand under a stream of warm water, which made her numbed fingers tingle….

"You should go around breaking mirrors, Kezzy…" A soft tenor voice said from behind her, making the hybrid jump in surprise. "You will get seven years bad luck…"

"Jamie?" The Mercenary stiffened at the familiar accented statement, this one Brother drove her over the moon. "What is it with you and the Girls' Bathroom?" Smirking at seeing the other blush fiercely at that, she had to retort again to make sure he understood she didn't like him scaring her like he did. "You perverted?" Why did she say it?

"Yep." The dark-haired Brother grinned in that way that said he was quite guilty of that crime too… "But I was sent to find you, the stuff yah ordered from the Professor just got dumped in your room. So I was told, 'Go find Miss Aaron and tell her its done! And that yes he did figure out where the sword went.'" The rather good impersonation of the 'nutty professor' had the both of them cracking up…. Until Zakk poked his head around the corner again, large blue eyes blinking at her again… wondering what the hell was funny this time.

"You perverted too, Zakk?"

The sandy brown youth blinked once at his partner, then stammered, "No… I don't… think I am…"

Keziah put both hands on her hips, gazing steadily at him. "If your not what are YOU doing in the girls bathroom?" Both eyebrows raised in question, vivid yellow orbs peering at him from under indigo bangs. She swore he paled significantly at that statement and bolted out the door, dragging the grinning Jamie with him…

Wrapping a clean handkerchief around her bloodied hand, shaking her head with a laugh she followed after the pair. Before Keziah got two steps, a warm touch ghosted over the back of her neck. Instantly she stiffened at the contact, _"Do you remember me?"_

Samael… Azrael…

"_So you do… White Raven…"_ The title was given affectionately, it was her name as a Devil Hunter, most knew her by that alone… _"Hunting a Devil again."_ He haunted her sometimes like this, always when she was alone… To make sure no one ever caught her… _"Now who is it your chasing, my pale Raven?"_

How did he always know? He knew… the future in some ways, predicting a course of events. She had seen his dark form at every major disaster, every image in history she saw him, where no one else could. His odd half Demonic, half Angelic aura pulsing around him even in photos she had managed to find of him. She had trailed behind him as a child… across the country in his footsteps, going where his voice called her too… Only a step behind him, but unable to reach him. She was a 'savour' to many, chosen to live by the grace of God, directed to her by her Angel… He was a Guardian of a sort… if you could call him that…

Now it was time to find him, for this strange Contract between them to be explained…

"I am chasing you."

I know short chapter… written in one day… BUT I wanna know what people think of it before I continue on with them… Please review!


	2. Chapter 2: Eye Spy

**Chapter Two: Eye Spy**

**Scene One: Train.**

Samael was silent… Not a word from him since the incident in the bathroom.

Keziah sat there, staring out of the train window, her reflection gazing back at her on the inner surface of the glass. Zakk was asleep on the seat opposite her, head resting against the wooden wall, his breathing slow as it fogged up the window every time he exhaled. Leaning her forehead against the glass again, she called out mentally to him once more to try finding him again, but ending up with nothing at all yet again. Why was he hiding from her? He never really had before, whenever she wanted to call him, he always answered her, no matter what the situation.

The passing trees of the forest seemed endless in the cold chill of fall, the first snows had begun to fall over the fields of pine and fluttering pass in the strong wind caused by passage of the Steam Train. It was darkening outside, the first stars beginning to shine through the scattered clouds that drifted over the evening sky. Her silver-gold eyes just watched the world fly passed, unconcerned by the constant view before her, but instead focusing inward on her mass of chaotic thoughts.

"Uri!" Someone called out from down the passage, instantly her head came up at the name, something within her clicked with that word and she was about to reply to it, but firmly stopped herself. What the hell? Why would she want to answer to a name like that? She had no reason too, except for this one itch to yell back at them.

Abruptly the door slid along its tracks, when a dark form appeared in the doorway, towering over the tiny Keziah. Her eyes turned to peer up at the intruder, instantly her mind was screaming that he was a Devil Hand reaching for the sword at her waist, the long hilt met her searching fingers to assure her it was there by her side. Confusion rattled through her brain, like the train did along its tracks… The only reason she could think of a Devil wanting her was because of her job or she was in the presence of Zakk who remained quite oblivious to the lurking danger, considering he was fast asleep. However, she decided to play the game a different way. Not to attack, but to get answers out of him but playing 'dead' in a way.

"So there you are… Uri." The Devil growled out, his glowing eyes narrowing sharply upon her, "So you're hunting Samael as well? Good for you, I didn't know God wanted him back so badly to send you to earth." The scraggly bearded guise of the Devil glared down at her from beneath the rim of his large leather hat.

Keziah blinked, _What the hell?_ Okay now that made no sense at all. "I am after him for a different reason. I serve God in my own ways." She retorted bitterly, pale orbs glittering with fierce determination to make him understand she would not back down at his threats. "Who the hell is Uri!"

"Come now, how is it that you of all people don't seem to remember who you are?" He stalked towards her, eyes flickering over her face, watching for any signs from her. "Your Contracted, damned Bird, White Raven, Uri." A clawed mitt stretched out to capture her chin in an iron grip, forcing her head upwards, the hybrid didn't resist because of the Devil being so close to the sleeping Zakk. "You don't even know who you are, do you?" And he was laughing…

A rage within her surfaced, her bandaged hand snatched at his wrist holding her, "Devil, Asmodai." _Where did that just come from? _"Shut the hell up, I don't know who this 'Uri' is but it certainly ain't me!"

Keziah Aaron had heard of this particular Devil, not very much… and only in rumours about his attempts to gain Aion's support earlier on in the Sinner's campaign. It was laughable, Asmodai and his twin brother Adramelech were some of Pandaemonium's finest, however they wouldn't destroy their own Horns… Like Aion's band did, because they wanted to remain as Pursuers, following Focalor in his bide to capture Samael to gain knowledge of Immortality.

"So, the Light of God knows me? I'm honoured." The towering, black haired demon snickered, giving a low bow in snide mockery. "They call you White Raven, for the Light of God now has come to earth. I thought I would come to see you… Since I was told by Pandaemonia herself of you before Aion killed her, of what you and that outcast are, and what you can do."

_Then you have more information then I do_, Keziah needed answers. It was the reason she was heading out to the ruins in the first place, trying to catch Samael in person… "Why find me if you're so powerful?" _You need me to catch him… like the Order does…_ "I will not be anyone's pawn."

Luminous crimson eyes widened a little at that, as if uncertain with what she had said. "I have power enough, but not to fight that bastard Samael alone. That is why I want you, you Collared that dog."

"I didn't."

She was slapped hard across the face, for that… The hybrid tasted the metallic tang of blood as it trickled from her split lip, yet her white gold eyes glared at him with a defiance one would calm was far from human, or more correctly the anger in her was devilish.

"Stop messing around Uri, tell me where that bastard is hiding. Because I know you know very well where he is… You always do."

About to retort back again… when something else prevented her answering. Only some of this was making sense. On the outside, all the facts of Asmodai coming to find her and looking for Samael was clear, but there was more to it than that… why he insisted on calling her Uri, why the questions of God and her faith and duty to the Lord?

"Answer me or die… and I will call him with your spilt blood."

"For Dust you are and Dust you will return…" The gun was raised in Zakk's hands as he pointed it straight up at Asmodai, his eyes narrowed as he pulled the trigger and the Sacred struck at nearly point blank range. And it simply bounced off the demon's armour as he transformed… The Sacred bullet having no visible affect at all… Wings flaring outward, slashing through the wood of the train carriage, the looming Devil wrenched the Gun from his hands, crushed into metal shards with his iron strength. The Brother scrambled to gain his other weapon hidden behind him, but he didn't pull it out… he only seemed to be checking it was there…

Abruptly the window before the Devil shattered as a huge form tackled him to the ground in a mass of feathers and a brutal snarl. Glass was flung everywhere by the howling winds, snow been blasted in through the now empty window frame. Great plumed wings unfurled like a shield over, Keziah… Blocking her from both Zakk and Asmodai, Samael now entered right when she had least expected him ever too.

However, Kez remained focused on Zakk, puzzlement flashing over her face for only a moment, uncertain as to why he hadn't used his spare weapon against Asmodai or was even putting up a threat. What was he up too?

A howl of anger and fury, Samael lashed out with his fist to connect hard with Asmodai's chin. The clawed hands of the feathered Devil lifting him clear off the floor, while he struck him hard again with another solid right hook to the jaw again, enough to give him a good concussion. A lash of a boot sent him flying into the door and crashing through the empty cabin on the other side of the corridor. "Don't you **_dare _**touch her again…" Teal eyes were flaming with suppressed hatred, it was very clear exactly who it was that had come to confront the Devil. Samael abruptly turned, eyes gazing up at Keziah and she froze as he watched her. "White Raven?"

"Finally you come Black One…" Asmodai hissed up at the powerful Hellic Angel, trying to push himself up from the wreckage, and brought his sword to bare in the confines of the trail. "Come to me… Finally after all this time." It was an obsession… that much became clear then. The Devil wanted to control the potential gifts of Samael. To hold the choice of life or death in your hand. To change Fate that way, held too much power for one single person except the Angel of Death himself. "Fight me… you bastard!"

Keziah knew instantly, watched Zakk attack both with his blade that had materialised in his hands, his eyes intent on his task. _Why is playing this game? What is he doing not using any of his other weapons? _He was aiming at Samael, however this time! Even though the Brother's actions didn't match what Kez knew of the brother, the White Raven still went on defence. The girl cursed as the Samael's blade slid out from its sheath, and parried the blow, her partner was knocked backwards a step with the force of her retaliation. Didn't anyone understand, the Angel of Death needed to be free! Immortality only brought one suffering… to watch everything you love slowly been stolen by the grips of mortality upon them. Everything crumbling to dust around you… Damn it Zakk what are you doing?

Standing back to back with Samael as the two Devils began to power up, their energy beginning to crackle around their bodies. The charge flowing a little in Keziah too as her blood began to react to the demonic energy raging around her with the feathered Devil so close. It was clear that if they did reach a high enough level of power… they were going to literally tear the train apart… over her.

Her Partner charged again, sword glowing in the half glow of the damaged lighting. "Zakk, No!" Her eyes were pleading with her partner to stop this… "Stop it!"

"Kez… He's a Devil." The blue eyes watched her, they were not confused… nor did they support the words he said, she could see it clearly in their Azure depths. His weapon clashed violently with hers, sending her back a step to actually lean in between the wings of the Devil. "How can you go against every part of your training? How can you let these monsters get away? You're protecting him! He's a damned murderer!"

His head came up at that, eyes gazing back at her over his shoulder as his teal orbs were wide at that, for his Contractor was the one he had come to protect… did she see him as nothing more than a Devil? That he killed with no mercy? For some reason, his heart was pounding so hard, he had no idea what to do… Praying to God that she didn't, hoping that the demon blood tainting her had not driven out the light from within her beautiful spirit. With a raised armoured forearm, Samael warding off the first bolt of electrical energy that was Asmodai's main attacking power, his own dark energies swirled up around the pair trapped between the Order and the Pursuers. The tendrils of power snaked out to chain the other to the spot… "May God Judge thee…"

And a bolt of holy energy rushed along the tendrils, crackling pure white, partially purifying him. Yet, he pinned Asmodai, preventing the howling, injured Purser from escaping his hold and causing more damage to the human's Train. And putting innocent lives in danger. Doing what he could, the Hellic Angel was afraid of this judgement of him…

The sword whipped around hard, her own wants for peace showing in her actions. "Zakk, you have no idea who he is… Order and Pursuer alike. You can't imprison or use him… Tell them I won't do that! I won't let anyone do that to him!" A fierce determination came to her face, as the hybrid refused to even consider the notion being allowed. "Samael… Please…" _What game are you playing Zakk? Why are you acting this way? _

"Mine…" The Hellic Angel breathed out, twisting around as he came back from his own attack, his anger had cooled somewhat, his thoughts now a tumbling whirl of emotions and his heart rejoicing with her words. His hand strayed to the collar around his throat, hidden beneath the high collar of his heavy woollen cloak. This was his reason… "Always mine!" His growling fury grew as he watched her having to fight her own partner over him…

Startled, Keziah was abruptly seized in powerful arms, the sword from her hand stolen from her grip when she was lifted upwards against a warm chest. The Demonic Angel grinned mischievously at both the Brother and the Devil. "You wanna find me? Sure go ahead and try… I am up for a game a cat and mouse… You heard my Contractor. Her will is my own… You will NEVER have her again… She's mine forever."

And his laughter filled the cabin as the shadows swallowed him up, leaving destruction, shards of glass scattered around… and two very irritated guys… One was smiling however because he knew plenty of things his counterpart didn't… All was going according to plan.

**Scene Two: Springfield Terminal, Lewiston**

Zakk paused for a moment, while the call was placed through to the New York Branch of the Magdalan Order. His eyes were passive as he heard the soft cultured tones of Father Remington, "Brother Zakk, I am glad to hear from you, I was starting to be concerned about the success of your mission. What occurred during your trip?"

The brown-haired teen grinned as he leaned against the large counter top where the call was been run through. His fingers ran back through his hair as he thought about the answer to that particular question. "Asmodai attacked us, I gave him a little bit of a show, enough to convince him, but not to injury… Samael came to 'kidnap' his Contractor just like we planned he would. Then the Devil took off in pursuit, though he didn't get too far because of Samael's little trap." The Brother laughed softly at the remembered image of the poor Devil being trapped within a barrier, howling to get out as he rattled around within its walls. Asmodai was interfering in something he didn't understand…

Resting his chin on his palm, he grinned as he finished. "Keziah still has no idea who she is though, Father… I have a feeling she will not appreciate this deception to protect her from being used as a tool by the Sinners…"

"I would have spoken to her. However, I didn't want to put any of the other contacts in any further danger than they are already in." The Father replied calmly, "She will find out who she is in time, when God has chosen the right moment."

Making the boy sigh softly knowing another reason was that Father Remington was already knee deep in the crisis with Aion and had no time to truly deal with this other situation that had yet to be told to anyone other then himself and the Elder. There was chaos at both New York and San Francesco Branches of the Order, with the alliance with the Pursuers there was a lot of trouble about…

"You do understand our reasons for keeping your profile low key at the moment?"

"Yeah, I do." The Canadian said, eyes flickering shut knowing there was a lot ahead he had to deal with on his own. "I am Militia, Father, I have been trained to handle such situations."

"There has never been any situation even remotely similar to this." It was true… No one could ever say that God had chosen Devils to become some of his new messengers… "The Lord works in mysterious ways. Though reaching New York will take time, They are meeting up at the St Uriel's Church then heading down to Boston to meet up with more of the Chosen Ones."

"Are you expected?" The Father inquired, his mood rather curious about the current situation in Maine. "What of the Pursuers that have been sighted in the area?"

"They will not be able to find the Sinners at the Church… Samael is quite certain that since it was dedicated to Uriel, they will remain invisible because of the powerful Holy Aura around the ruins." The boy tapped his fingers on the table top, a little uncertain of what would happen after the other Sinners had gathered, how did one transform Demonic to Angelic? How would it all happen?

"I know what you wish to ask, Brother Zakk, but even I am unsure of exactly what God has planned… This will be happening once Aion is dealt with. Since the outcome of that battle affects us all…"

"So does this." The brother whispered, "More than anyone I think realises… However the Order will have to pay for the damage done by the Demons… it would be the honourable thing to do."

Remington breathed out a sigh, "They're not turning into Sister Rosette are they?"

**Scene Three: St Uriel's Church**

The girl was asleep in his arms, for once he sat entirely still as he simply cradled her against his body in the snow, wrapping her up in his thick woollen cloak and plumed wings. The Angel of Death simply gazed down at Keziah, clawed fingers brushing the indigo locks aside, to reveal the pointed ears hidden beneath the silky strands. _So the Contract has had dramatic effects on you…_

Fiercely he pushed away such thoughts, he knew the others would be arriving soon and now was no time to be this deep in thought and be taken advantage of. Sighing, he pushed himself up to his feet, eyes gazing down at his sleeping Contractor, the trust involved in her mere action of allowing herself to rest, showed him so much into her faith…

The Angel stood, his other hand rubbing absently at the collar around his neck, its midnight sapphire jewels glittering in the starlight as they flickered with soft internal energy. "Collared… but happy." Bemused with that idea he shifted a little to gazed down at his 'prisoner' or rather the woman he wanted to protect. How he was going to accomplish it, he had no idea… The sword resting at her hip made him fascinated how she had found it for him, also how it allowed her to handle it… Which left some interesting questions about it.

"Collared?" Her gentle mumble made him grinned happily to hear it, "Whatcha mean?" Her face turned more into his chest as he carried her with him, moving to open ground as his eyes looked upwards for the others travelling from Canada to join him. Sighing as he didn't see them, Samael reflected on what events had brought him to this strange moment.

"I mean in our Contract, you truly don't remember who you are do you?" Samael asked gently, his teal eyes glancing down at her before returning to the heavens again. "All this time, Keziah Aaron, you have been my Contractor, however God prevented me from coming to get you until you were given the orders to 'capture' me." Warm mirthful laughter filled the air at that as he leaned forwards to brush her stray locks out of her pale eyes, which blinked sleepily up at him. "I have been working on arranging this for a long time, my White Raven, and getting to you through my acts… the Order have been keeping an eye on you it seems for a long time… Their interest in you is beyond just your skills, it is of a more religious nature for them…"

"How so?"

"Uriel." The word seemed to spark emotions off in both of them, for the tall man it was the fierce new need in him to protect her, and fight of any other that dared to come near her.

"Uriel is… an Archangel of the Lord." Within the arm of the Collared One, Keziah was wide awake in a state of shock. "What has anything like this got to do with an Archangel?"

He shook his head, touching her cheek lightly with the back of his fingers as he studied her face, wanting to figure out a way to explain what had happened between them. "I know you have been caught in the middle of a battle between Devils and Angels… I am trapped between the two sides… Forced to do what I can for those who need help."

The hybrid pushed herself away from him, when the 'Devil' allowed her to stand up on her own two feet, yet keeping her close to him, within the shield of his magnificent wings. "I don't understand… Does the Order have something to do with this too? Is that why Zakk didn't kill Asmodai on the train? Because he is on a mission and your involved in it somehow…."

"You're very good at this game of Eye Spy…" His angel wings stretched outwards, their feathers rustling in the light breeze and the Samael grinned. The air around his face shimmered as the two sets of horns appeared on either side of his head, revealing black Ivory.

_Okay, now what the hell is going on?_ Just how much Keziah really didn't know… Was he a Devil or an Angel? What was the mission exactly that Zakk was on? A billion questions fluttered into her mind at once…. Like a cage filled with butterflies.


	3. Chapter 3: Confusion Marks The Fork

**Chapter Three: Confusion Marks The Fork** _God Is With Us_ **Psalms 46:1-11**

_God is our refuge and strength,_

_an ever-present help in trouble._

_Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way_

_and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,_

_Though its waters roar and foam_

_and the mountains quake with their surging._

_There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,_

_the holy places where the Most High dwells._

_God is within her, she will not fall;_

_God will help her at break of day._

_Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;_

_he lifts his voice, the earth melts._

_The LORD Almighty is with us;_

_the God of Jacob is our fortress._

_Come and see the works of the LORD,_

_the desolation he has brought on the earth._

_He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;_

_he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,_

_he burns the shields with fire._

_"Be still, and know that I am God;_

_I will be exalted among the nations,_

_I will be exalted in the earth."_

_The LORD Almighty is with us;_

_the God of Jacob is our fortress._

**Scene One: The Hideout, Boston**

Asmodai stumbled inside the house, his eyes focusing on the pair waiting for him on the couch, their sealed forms rather not unlike humans at first glance. One tall and rather thin, his features still as angelic as ever, Focalor, Pursuer from Pandemonium and their leader in the hunt for Samael and the other escaped Sinners.

There had been others besides Aion's band, that had snuck out from under their noses in the Chaos caused by Chrno and Aion… And for fifty years they had remained hidden from the Pursuers… Forced to wait in patience for the link to them appeared, now they had a chance to capture them and return them for judgement or death, which ever came first. It was Focalor's duty to capture Samael and prevent God's plan from being recognised and done upon the earth… Chaos was meant to reign.

"Looking nice there, Little Brother," Adramelech snickered, his pale features mirroring the darker reflection of Asmodai… twins… "Decided to put up with a nice light show?"

The darker twin snarled something about Barriers and purification, while he dragged a wooden chair across the floor, straddling it backward to rest his crossed arms on the back of it. "I got the item you wanted, Focalor." The feather was long and slender as it lay in his palm, it's pale white and black colouring blurred together along its length. "One feather from that mutt. What on earth you want it for, I have no idea."

"He is no mutt." Their leader intoned softly, much like the rather calm Aion, Focalor had had his problems with the way Pandemonium had been run… but there had also been rather odd rumours about the Devil. Some that made the twins rather sceptical about what he was planning to do with the Sinners once they were captured. It was said that after the thousand years of exile the Fallen Angel Focalor was wishing to return to heaven… But nothing came of it. "Respect that which is more powerful than you, Asmodai, never think less of the strong because they could simply kill you for a drop of arrogance or aggression towards them."

His dark glasses slide a little down his nose as he leaned forwards a little over the back frame of the chair and glared at Focalor. "Just because he is stronger, doesn't mean I let him walk all over me!" Hissed out the dark twin from between clenched teeth, Asmodai was known for having no tolerance for practically any 'suggestive' comments… or women for that matter. He was no charmer and would show any creature its place was below him… yet he was not stupid. Or that is what his twin hoped.

Adramelech snorted out a breath, his pale white-silver hair swaying as he got to his feet and strode over to confront his brother. "You're an idiot!" And whacked him solidly on the head with the rolled up newspaper he had been reading. "Got yourself half purified!"

The younger of the pair actually whined at the reprimand, his hat been pushed down to shield his eyes and face, "I only wanna prove I am no push over." But in trying to prove so, he showed he was… The irony… ah the sheer cruel irony.

"To Samael… we are nothing more than light weights." Adram said, considering his brother with rather bemused crimson eyes. "Focalor… What do you intend to do?"

The Leader of this group of Pursuers held up the single feather in his hand and grinned menacingly. "Trap him of course with his own attack. God's Plans are going to backfire right on him."

"That's where I come in." A deep voice said from the shadows of the room, making the twins jump at the angel's voice echoed in their ears. Lucifer stood there, the once 'prince of light' of Heaven was now the one that directly opposed God. "I want the destruction of Heaven."

After the revolt of some Angels in Heaven underneath Lucifer, many were cast down to join the Devils in Pandemonium, becoming known as the Fallen Ones… some still had very large grudges against those who had been at the forefront of leading the Lord's army against them… Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel and Michael, the Four most powerful Archangels that protected God's Throne. Others had found it a blessing to be free of Heaven and live on earth. However, there was a lot of contention between the Fallen Angels and the Devils, for neither side liked the other, except for those Fallen Ones who had become Pursuers like Focalor…

"You know well that our revenge is at hand. God's designs allow us the freedom to chose which method to bring about his own downfall… Aion wants to bring Heaven to earth and Earth to Heaven… I want to destroy Heaven, for the stain upon us had been there for far too long… the name that burdens us with having to live beside Devils. I am tired of being suppressed by a being who has never truly walked this pathetic world." Lucifer glared at the twins, who immediately flinched away from those fierce blue eyes. "Many here are just pitiful creatures that are nothing more than insects compared to us, Focalor."

Asmodai sent the chair crashing to the floor as he leapt to his feet at that insult, he was snarling viciously at Lucifer, his crimson eyes narrowed behind the dark shades, claws and fangs bared in outrage. Wanting to kill the Fallen One over that direct blow to his ego, he was prevented by Focalor, who thrust Asmodai back down into his chair and held him there and growled out under his breath.

"Take it. Or you will end up dead, for your own stupidity… I thought you just learnt this lesson… Don't prove us wrong in letting you be in on this, Asmodai."

"You Fallen Ones are all the same… weak cowards."

A fist connected with his cheek at that. "Watch your mouth, Asmodai before I decide to kill you myself." Focalor gazed at the beautiful Fallen One instead of the bleeding Devil, who once bore the title of the Light of God, yet was stripped it… Because of his arrogance and lust for power. "Decided finally on a plan, eh? How you gonna get in?"

"Through Heaven's own Gates!" Lucifer laughed, his blue eyes glittering with a cruel hatred and bitter-sweet joy that was twisting his stunning features into a hateful mask of wicked intent. "Uriel is the Key to God's plan… now she will be our tool to shatter Heaven and bring about our glorious vengeance against the human's precious Lord!" The burn of loathing within this Fallen One for God sent a chill running straight through Focalor…

"Are you certain Uriel is upon the Earth?"

"Fool." The glinting menace of his blue eyes settled on Focalor, who was one of the only ones that was allowed to question Lucifer's ideas because the Fallen One had a soft spot for the stoic Pursuer. "There were sightings of Samael in San Francesco, and also of his companion… an angel with flaming wings. Now who would that remind you of?" The Angel asked sarcastically, his blonde hair shadowing his features, darkening them as his sapphire eyes sparked into flame, burning at him as he watched the other with the abhorrence he would show any enemy.

The other Fallen One sighed, knowing the answer… "Uriel." Now… "Remember Lucifer… this time I am leading…"

The sapphire eyes glittered, while the elegant Fallen One moved to sit on the edge of the couch. "Very well then, since it was you who made this possible with your supporters amongst the Devils… I give you my support Focalor. As long as in the end, Uriel is mine…"

"Then we have a deal…"

**Scene Two: St Uriel's Church**

Brother Zakk Bellamy felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of a Sinner right behind him, well he wasn't expecting it. Yet, the welcoming grin on the Devil's face was enough to make the boy return it, actually embracing the Sinner with a laugh of delight. "Raum… been a while since I saw you last."

The German Devil flashed the Brother a grin, ruffling the youth's auburn locks with affection. "If I recall the last time I saw yah, young Brother, was when yah were pullin' me from a cage. I did appreciate that, stupid humans…" He laughed, quiet bemused by it, raising a hand to prevent the boy retorting to the comment. "Not yah, Brother Zakk. Nor the White Raven, though how anyone can call her human is beyond meh." His thick accent made his words sound rough, sharper than they should probably be, yet it suited the tall red haired Demon all too well. His cunning eyes studied the pair, standing in the centre of the debris strewn dais.

"Consider those two…" He gestured broadly towards the pair, who were talking quietly that neither could quiet hear what they were saying. "One can beh called a Devil, the other… well lets just say, Keziah Aaron is not human in the slightest. Just look at them and yah can see it straight off."

"Consider us two?" Zakk joined in the humour of the situation, "Me a Militia, you a Sinner, but, I loved playing the part! Should have seen it on the Train ride up here… We had Asmodai absolutely convinced the Order was up to something 'evil'."

From under long strands of vivid red hair, blue-violet eyes gazed at the teen with a smirk, "I can believe that, Zakk." The Sinner wrapped an arm around the thin shoulders of the boy, his tall frame almost impossible to describe as other than a giant in human standards, dwarfing even the thin teen. "The Order… I still can't believe Father Remington actually agreed to allow us to come down to New York, in the middle of this crisis… though by the time we get there. Hopefully Aion will be defeated."

"San Francesco is in ruins." The laughter immediately stopped, "Thousands are dead… Samael was there… after it happened… I saw Samael… workin' and… Uriel too." Raum was instantly turning to gaze down at the boy, blue-violet eyes met azure and the humour instantly died as reality struck both very hard. "Could she had stopped them?" Was all he asked, gaze flickering the indigo-haired girl standing in the arms of the four-horned Devil. "If she was alright… could she have stopped Aion?"

That made him jolt to a stop… "Keziah stop Aion?" The thought of that, seemed unlikely… but was there truth in it? "How exactly? She might be the Contractor of the Angel of Death, but I don't think she is that powerful… whatever you seem to be suggesting about."

"Why come here to St Uriel's church to meet? Why not all go straight to Boston?" And some of the things clicked into place… "Why does Asmodai and other Devils call her the White Raven? Why did Uriel, an Archangel of God appear?"

"What is she exactly?"

"Do you really want to know…"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Samael?" The girl asked softly, gazing up into the vivid teal eyes of the raven haired Devil. "I don't understand why I am so important… You can obviously use your powers… I saw what you did against Asmodai… Though I can understand and appreciate you taking me away from there…"

"I am bound." His fingers lifted her hands to the collar around his neck, allowing her fingertips to trace over the jewels that adorned the smooth worked leather. "Chained to Earth and Pandemonium. The Earth is falling… Humanity is collapsing in upon itself…" Samael gazed down at her, trying to understand more of what was happening around them both. "God has cast down his Archangel…"

"Samael… Azrael. No…" She corrected herself, _There is a Devil and an Angel in him, Samael and Azrael._ "A thousand names throughout time, yet none your own… Who are you?"

"A name of my own?" His eyes glowed in the dark, shimmering with the demonic powers within him. "And which is your own? You cry for the earth, yet Heaven weeps without your light."

"Damnit." Keziah poked him hard in the chest, frustrated with the riddles he had just given her instead of answers. "Who are you? More of a question, since everyone keeps saying it, who am I?" Arms cradled her against his broad chest, his breathing and strong heartbeat lulling her. "I won't get an answer to that will I?"

"No." The horned one answered, wings folding down over her body, hiding her from the sight of Heaven and Earth. "The time in not right, White Raven. Even those who have Faith are falling to the Earth and into its chaos." Time had no meaning to him, nor life and death. "Every life comes and goes at the will of God. My duty stands at the line between Heaven and Hell, Pandemonium. I am the last to take the life as the Lord wills. To crush hope and bring the soul to judgement."

"San Francesco? I keep seeing it in flames… It was burning and the world lay in ruins. How do I know that… It's on the other side of the country!"

"Shh…" The Angel of Death soothed, _I am sorry my world darkens your own._ "The Will came down hard upon the city and we were called to answer it. You are my Contractor, so I took you with me while you were asleep..." _And the price… the price of that… neither of us understands completely._ "Death is collared to follow the Will. We were there… as I watched over those lost lambs and saw..."

"There was a light there too…" Face turned up to look into the teal orbs watching her, for a moment he was confused by the look of awe on her face. "It was beautiful. I saw… an Angel."

"You did, my Little One? Tell me of you angel." He needed to hear it, to know if what she had seen matched what he knew of Uriel. He had seen things too, as he knew he would… "I have seen many angels… maybe I can even tell you his name."

"No." Shaking her head, eyes blinking a little as her brow furrowed as she tried to remember exactly what she had seen. "It was a she… Beautiful… She watched over the souls and the Astral Lines. Six wings of gold and red, like fire, and her aura was so strong it lit up the entire sky… She was singing, I think…" Keziah Aaron shuddered in his arms, biting her lip as the Devil Blood weakened in that moment. Her legs wanted suddenly to give out from under her at the remembered angel, who golden eyes had seen right into her soul... Yet the image seemed to be as if she had been looking at a reflection in water… as if staring back at herself… in a mirror. "Who is she?"

Instantly the Devil held his Contractor close, leaning down to watch her pale significantly with the arrival of Raum and his Sinners. He knew this would happen… "That was Uriel, the Archangel of Salvation. The Lord was rescuing his lost sheep." Sweeping her up into his arms, his gentle voice touched her ears again. "You are obviously unwell, I will carry you." He smirked a little down at her, evidently pleased a little that he was allowed within reason to hold her close and protect her as he should.

A blush stained her cheeks, making her look far younger than her sixteen years. "I…. Thankyou." Caught right out this time, shyly the girl let him hold her. "What does the Contract mean?"

"Each time I use my powers when I go full Devil, the powers within you increase, as they feed off my Demonic energy… And the marks upon you become clearer… The forces of the Will become stronger within you…" Raven locks sheltered his face from the moonlight slanting down over them where they were within the ruined church. "The Will is that of God and Pandemonium, his wishes and plan of the Earth."

"So when the 'Will' becomes strong enough…?"

Sighing, the powerful Devil replied despairingly, "The Contract forces me into action. We are his backup plan…" A anguished chuckle came from him then, his shoulders slumping under some burden that weighed him down. "Yeah, God has a backup plan if the first doesn't succeed, try again. We are that plan."

_God has a back up plan… Now that's comforting._ She mentally rolled her eyes, surprised that the Lord would be like this. A jolt accompanied that, and Keziah glared up at the Heavens. "Okay I get the point, my Lord. No need for reminders… Shesh." _What the hell? _Did she just say that…

"Well that's more like it." Raum said with a grin as the Crow moved out to interrupt the pair. "Been waitin' for yah to tell him not ta kick you around, Keziah." The German Devil grinned, running a hand back through his thick crimson hair before gazing at the others appearing behind the two. "Though, Samael yah are rubbin' off on her…"

A raven brow went up at that as the stoic calm over took his caring features, and death became him. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Kez!" Zakk called with a wolfish grin, waving excitedly at her to try and convince the two Devils, now was not the time for one of their odd debates, which others had told him the two excelled at. "Were going to Boston!"

_Oh dear, now he is going to be hyper for days over this…_ Kez rolled her eyes at the over-excited teen, trying to figure out when her luck had run out and she had ended up surrounded by a bunch of guys… "Sounds like fun… as long as I get some Boston Cream Pie… though I have no idea why they call it a pie."

**Scene Three: San Francesco Flash back**

The dark raven-haired demon wielded his sword amongst the fields of destruction, his teal eyes burning with the fierce flame of his duty. His four thin black horns swept back from his face also were linked by a tiny circle of smaller horns that formed a crown of ebony beneath wild raven bangs. Covered with the last traces of Astral, the Devil flung back his head and roared out a howl of fury as he was confronted by other Devils who wanted to prey on the souls he had just released…

Abruptly a brilliant purifying light from above destroyed them with the sweeping motion of a hand, their cries of despair silenced back into the earth where they belonged. Instead of dying, the Devils were reverted to safer seal ones, touched by the mercy of the Archangel hovering there above the earth, six burning wings spread wide behind her body holding her in the evening air. "Samael…"

Instantly the Devil froze, his sword held to defend himself as his feathered wings shimmered pure black in the night air instead of white and black… the demonic part of him had become strong with the clouds of Death hovering around him. "Angel!" The beast stalked across carnage, his body moving with a predator's grace as his wings fluttered behind him. "Come down here Angel… I have my own way of dealing with your kind…" His knuckles crackled as he held up clawed hands,

"Collared One."

The jewels upon his collar suddenly were radiating crimson light, the Devil was chained by the Contract upon him, and holy chains bound him in place, forcing him to the earth. Heavy links wrapped around his limbs tightly, not allowing him the freedom of any real movement. With a howling bellow of absolute loathing, Samael was raging against his confinement. Streaks of dark crimson blood rose from where the shackles cut into his flesh, where his violent struggles had rubbed his pale skin raw already.

The Angel's gentle hands rested on his horns, touching them gently and running her fingers back through his wild raven mane, and strangely it seemed to calm him. Like a unicorn, calmed by the touch of a maiden. "Quiet now, Samael… there is no need for anger."

Abruptly a soft purring came from beneath her hand, the demon on his knees at her feet, yet his teal eyes turned upwards, the violence that had been there a moment before, now was filled with love. The polarity of those two emotions was startling. "Uriel." Samael breathed out, wanting to touch her… for so long he had been without her… Why did now God torment him with her presence? "Why are you here? And not Keziah?"

A frown made her beautiful features look so terribly sad… as if someone had ripped out her heart… "Please… don't say that name…"

The Devil shifted under the chains, they clanked together as he moved, his mighty wings trying to stretch under the bindings over their soft feathers… At the top of the ebony feathers the colour began to drain away…. Loosing the pure back to fade til grey until it revealed an untainted white beneath. With this, she knew he had come out of the rage that had consumed him… the violent hatred for his duty and the pain that accompanied loosing some souls to those who preyed on them. The Angel within, Azrael had returned from the depths of the pit… to restore calm to him.

"Why? Why Uriel?" The strange horned angel asked softly, his voice barely heard above the cries for help and the howling winds. "Look into the water and tell me what you see."

The fiery angel pulled away to gaze down into the bay waters beside where they hovered on the edge of the dock side… and the reflection of a hybrid staring back at her. Keziah Aaron stared back at her in the water… "NO!" Her fiery aura soared around her as she began to cry… she didn't want to be what she saw… she was an Archangel of God, not a mortal.

And clatter of metal links struck the ground as strong arms wrapped her up in odd bi-coloured wings. "Stop fighting it… Uriel. These chains you bind me with, will bind the Devil, but not his heart for long..."


	4. Chapter 4: Betrayal At Dawn

A big thankyou to Ray for helping me write part of this… your help was invaluable. And Happy Birthday to Zakk… sorry it too so long to get this thing up. ----------------------------------------------

Chapter Four: Betrayal At Dawn

**Psalms 51:12-13**

Give me again the joy that comes from your salvation and make me willing to obey you.

Then I will teach the sinners your commands and they will turn back to you.

* * *

**_Scene One: The Hideout, Boston_**

It was dark, pitch black like a moonless night, where all the stars had been swallowed by storm clouds that didn't exist. And cold, he couldn't help but feel freezing chill to very core, as he had been for what felt like days. This was their method of torture… to shut him away in a box and break his connect to his God. That was almost as bad as the darkness, but not quite, the evil haunted his feverish dreams like a monster on the prowl playing with its prey that would soon be consumed by pure darkness.

Cold was all he could sense, surrounding Wolfram Gabriel and penetrating him like an evil force that wished to tear him apart. The cold he could understand and fight, with the added benefit of it numbing the numerous bruises and cuts… and deeper wounds that refused to heal, slowing the flow of blood onto the damp floor. Yet darkness was a yawning gloom of uncertainty, where time no longer existed, where he no longer existed... Where everything was blanketed out by the meaninglessness of it all. In the end, he was left to the utter cruelty of fate…

_**Darkness can be treacherous.**_

Wolf shivered in the tomb of stone, shut away from the light of the world and the passage of time, the darkness was timeless now. In all senses the world was splintered and shattered into absolute nothingness. His breathing echoed harshly in his ears, the only sound besides the slow pulse of blood throughout his slender, broken frame.

The Darkness betrayed his existence… betrayed anyone who dwelt within it. For it brought the senses to a new height, the sound and smell… sharpened by the lack of sight… it was a traitor to any who dared entire into it. Or it could eat you alive…. Swallow your mind into a chaos beyond anything you have ever known.

_**Darkness can be a tormenter**._

Quivering insistently but only partially from the numbing cold that infested his body and made his bones ache with the frigid touch that clawed into his very soul. Was it possible that darkness and cold were conspiring against him? They never missed an opportunity to belittle him optimism, always snickering at his stubborn determination to win freedom. But now Wolf knew, with a certainty that was just as deadening as the cold that it was only a matter of time until the darkness would win. It would smother the boy, consuming him little by little, until all that was left was an anonymous shadow, nothing worth rescuing. _But who knows I am still alive?… Uriel… Raleigh…Please help me…_

_**Darkness can be patient, waiting for a chance to strike you down when you least expect it.**_

He hugged his knees to his chest, rocking gently to try to keep himself awake, needing desperately to know he was alive… and not in the state of limbo that seemed to be all he could experience. Even his dreams, were pitch black, haunted by demons that used him as nothing but a toy… They broke him from the inside out with the silent loneliness that filled the void. He shivered, from cold, from the dreadful realisation that the dark would devour him whole, devour everything that he was... He would die, alone and nameless, overpowered and overwhelmed by the fall of evil.

_**Darkness can be lethal.**_

Curling into a ball, the blonde haired boy sobbed silently against the freezing floor that he couldn't see at all. The coarse surface grazing against his pale skin, with each ragged breath. _Just kill me now... Why make me suffer? Why torture me like this?_ "Why?" Wolfram screamed aloud, the sound reverberating off into the darkness and returning to him in a splintered ricochet off the walls he knew by feel were there. "Give me back my life! Where is the light?"

_**Darkness can be silent.**_

He pushed up onto his hands and knees, staring wide-eyed into nothingness, swiping at his sniffling nose as the echoes of his exclamation faded. That was his voice. He had shattered the darkness for that one moment, with the strength God continued to give him… Somehow he had not realised it was there… the spark of hope and faith being kept alive within him by God. He experienced something other than just the suffocating stillness of the darkness. There was an existence outside the confines of the darkness, Wolfram could exist outside the shadows of this prison. Smiling through tears that ran down his dirt stained cheeks to leave clean rivulets behind, Wolfram's restrained, understanding smile shone out from under his shadowing bangs... There was more out there still to live for.

"I am Wolfram Gabriel, servant of our Lord God!" He shouted at the emptiness above his head, reclaiming his identity, defying the darkness. "And you can't have me! I am not alone! The Lord is with me."

_Darkness can be beaten._

"All I need is some light…"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bright lights shone through his heavy eyelids, the burst of colour rousing him faster than any other means could. Wolfram Gabriel, Archangel of God, and brother of the Fallen One Lucifer lay on the cold hard stone, the boy had been beaten close to the edge of mortal life, nearly killing the powerless youth. He wanted to open his eyes, but soon smells rushed into his nostrils, or rather, he became aware of the odours, so very different than those of his prison. They were strange smells, he remembered the soft smell of the fields of his home… when he had been free of his chains, the earthy smell of the city roads and the sweaty, dusty smells of the stables. Memories wanted to rise in his mind, yet nothing appeared to him… The smells he now encountered, when his consciousness returned were crisp, sharp smells, sour and foreign, almost like machines.. grease and oils. They burned his nose on the inside, the force of it pushed him the last inch to the waking world.

"You foolish boy, wake up!" The steel-capped boot impacted hard with the thin boy's side, leaving the helpless child gasping for breath, while he struggled to remain conscious as his vision blurred.

"You will get nothing from me." The Blonde spat out, when he was struck harshly across the jaw for his smart remark, his emerald eyes burning up into the features of Abaddon, when he found enough strength to even stir from his place on the ground. "I will never yield… for the Lord is with me…" And the boy was set to crash hard against the stone floor, his temple striking the floor with a solid crack, red streaks already had dried on the worn sandstone.

"Then why are you lying here, Angel? Can't you see God has long since abandoned humanity and his angels?"

_Uriel… please help…_

Abruptly a small form was dragged into the room, the ginger mane stood on end as the Devil hissed and seethed like a living flame. The English Cat Devil was known to be rather vicious, the two pursuers that pushed the feline into the room instantly bowed to both Abaddon and Lucifer. Before they vanished once again out the doorway beneath the house where the chamber was built to house the Archangel and prevent his powers from been set loose.

The instant stormy blue eyes settled on the blonde curled further back in the shadows, the Cat was scrabbling over to Wolfram's side. In response to the clawed hands that shook his shoulder to wake him a little, Wolf blinked open emerald orbs that shimmered with a pain and confusion that seemed to blanket the poor boy, preventing him from even stirring slightly from where he had been thrown. "Ray?" He gasped out, his breathing coming hard as his broken ribs put a strain on him.

He grinned widely at the blonde youth, showing his fangs with a flash of white as he hugged the boy tightly. "Yes, Wolfram? I see we are in a little predicament here, perhaps you might want to explain why?" The flicker of confusion in his eyes showed the Angel just how much the Sinner didn't understand about this particular situation. The blood shared between Lucifer and Wolfram wasn't common knowledge…

The Archangel laughed softly, the emerald eyes reflecting some of the humour the Cat Devil held. "Lucifer… is after Uriel… And considering you're my Contracted… He knew to bring you here… to keep me alive."

"Hmm," The Devil narrowed his blue-grey eyes, they scanned the room for long moments, testing each escape there was from the stone chamber. "Keep you alive. Right, yes, of course." There was a vent above their heads… one that would certainly lead to the surface, since they were underground in the basement. There was a chance for escape… the opportunity only needed to present itself.

"I do want to live." A whimsical smile flittered across the boy's lips as his fingers rubbed over the cat's perked up ears, trying to calm his own nerves to keep from hugging the familiar Devil to him. He needed to remain calm… or end up with a lot more trouble on his hands then he could handle, with Abaddon standing over them watching with dark merciless eyes.

The devil looked upwards, his grin fading a little as he realised just how injured the boy was. "How would we go about this?" Crouching down, his tail curled around his legs, while he observed the other people in the room. _Patience…_ the cat reminded himself, not wanting to end up injured and unable to protected his Contractor… though their Contract wasn't quite as strong as others…

"You won't be going about anything, Feline." The blue eyes of Lucifer pinned the cat to the spot, the taller powerful Fallen One stood leaning against the wall. His power rose around him like a cascade of dark holy energy, one that burned the kitten a little as it coiled around Wolfram to hold the boy in place like a set of heavy chains. "There is no escape."

Growling softly, Raleigh cringed slightly under the menacing sapphire gaze, moving his own down to the floor, but his eyes became steely as a determination filled him swiftly. "Lucifer..." It was a warning and a threat all in one word…

A smirk flittered over the older brother's lips as he gazed down at the pair, "So… the kitty finally shows his claws." The Fallen One laughed coldly, his eyes narrowing sharply on the feline Sinner. "And shows me how blunt they are." The dominating ex-commander of some of heaven's most elite showed through in the stiff stance and hand that rested lightly on the handle of the gun strapped to his thigh.

"Your words don't concern me, Fallen One." The feline's face hardened, glaring back at him with unrestrained hatred shimmering in his stormy orbs. "That smirk will not hold you long." Yet he remained aware of the weapon at Lucifer's belt, a single bolt from that would kill him in an instant… without his horns, the Cat Demon was not strong enough to repel such an attack unless his Contractor gave him the power to.

Wolfram's brows knotted together as his blurred gaze tried to focus on his older sibling. "You're the traitor to Heaven…" The smaller frailer blonde tried to push himself up off the stone, the Sinner helped to set him against the back wall, the grey eyes concerned for his friends wellbeing. "I was the one that exiled you. Samael exiled the others…"

"YOU BASTARD!" Lucifer bellowed livid, moving forwards to attack the downed boy, while the gun was snatched from its holster and raised level with Wolf's head. "Your death is assured…" The older was far closer to snapping then anyone bar his little brother had ever seen. The sheer burning hatred burned in his blue eyes as he stared his brother down, the feeling of betrayal scorching his soul even darker.

Abaddon stepped into his way, hands coming up to restrain him, sending the weapon clattering to the ground as he stared hard into the Fallen One's eyes. "Enough Lucifer… We need him alive. He is more use to Focalor that way… not dead."

Raleigh's eyes flickered from Lucifer back to Wolf's pale face, rather bemused somehow by the situation. "Bargaining...?"

"No…" The boy gasped out, his shallow breathing limiting his voice to a bare whisper. "Tortured… and then used as bait… Yet, they have gained absolutely nothing from me…"

Lucifer abruptly was calm again, like a stone statue, smirking in that infuriatingly smug way at the pair. "Oh, you have given us what we want. A way of drawing out your fellow Archangel Uriel."

The feline hisses quietly at Lucifer, before turning back to his ward. "Tell me, you didn't call her..."

"I had too…" The boy whispered softly, head bowed. "She is the Light… and it is time for her to awaken…"

And Lucifer was laughing, as the sounds of the preparations above for the Angel's arrival could be heard penetrating through the stone and into the basement. "She's already on her way…"

"You don't even know… what she is…"

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**_Scene Two: St Uriel's Church, Maine_**

The dawn fell down on them like the walls of Jericho had, crashing down to wake those who had needed the rest from the long flight from the different reaches of Canada and up into Alaska. The sky lightened with a swirl of colours in every hue imaginable, shining down with a beauty of biblical proportions… The bell clanged softly as the breeze pushing against it, the stillness of the place seemed off… making some wary. Keziah and Samael were no longer where they had been sleeping that night. They were gone.. as if they had never existed. Some questioned but didn't choose to understand… the pair where holy. And thus obeying the Lord's Will.

"In the name of the Magdalan Order, you are all under arrest."

The click of a gun been loaded was the first sign that something was wrong… The cold metal pressed against the back of Raum's neck, making the German Devil flinch slightly at the sensation. His eyes turned back to spy Zakk holding it, "Traitor." How could Zakk pull a weapon on him? They had been through so much, and not it had just come down to this. Anger sparked in the Devil, while he felt utterly betrayed by the one he had even felt was his brother in the true sense of the word. The red-haired man prepared to twist and attack him as his instincts demanded the threat be handled, with force. Yet, a gentle presence stopped him. 

'_There is more at stake here.'_

The Crow's violet eyes blinked in surprise and shock at the voice that echoed to his ears alone, speaking mind to mind with him. '_Speak, who are you?' _But the soft sigh that echoed in his mind told him instantly who it was and he stiffened immediately. '_Keziah?' _How had she created such a contact to his mind? There were so many questions then… too many to be answered.

'_Stop making foolish mistakes… Trust Zakk… He is doing the right thing by all of us. He's protecting you.'_

Flashes of blue moved into his field of vision, the burn of holy energies rattled through his body as others were herding into the centre of the Churchyard, the only ones missing were Samael and Keziah. The Magdalan Order swarmed over the ruins like insects, their blue uniforms standing out against the dark stone and green pine. Barriers shimmered around the Sinners and Fallen Ones of the group numbering about ten or so… They didn't resist. They found no reason too…

"Yeah right, with a gun pointed at my head." Raum growled out, his cold eyes staring down the Brother who looked so wounded by the disgust directed at him. However, turning slowly, his arms raised as he let his gathering energy subside again to simply drive down into nothingness. Reluctant to do so, he still followed the directions of his friend and Servant of his Lord.

"Trust me, Raum, I haven't betrayed you… The Order wishes simply for the safety of the innocent." Zakk said, sandy brown hair flopping down into his face, "I would not hurt her people… for the world." His blue eyes turned to meet that of one of the Sinners. _They are the innocent, thrust into a life that has been nothing but cruel to them… _"Love strikes those who know not what to do about it. In some ways Keziah is right…. In others I prefer my own way." The Militia stalked away from where two other burly humans gripped either of the German's shoulders, pushing him towards the waiting transport. They were prepared for the worst…

The white-haired Fox Demon smiled widely at the Brother, revealing fangs in the dawn glow, her green eyes sparkling with cunning mischief. "Brother, Brother… You wish me in chains?" She taunted, wagging a finger at him. _I know you too well… my Love._

"No." Zakk flushed crimson at those words, blue eyes glittering with emotions as he gazed at her, "Caelah… It's not like that." He could never betray his love, though a halfbreed, she was the only one to ever fully understand his peculiar sense of justice and honour.

Emerald eyes narrowed on his then, the vixen shaking off those who held her, obviously not caring as guns instantly came upon as soon as she had begun to move. For her, they were not a threat… not when Zakk would protect her… she had her faith, not in God, but in him. The Crow wanted desperately to stop her to tell him to just leave it be… not to make this even more of a mess of this rather odd situation. Her tail swished lightly behind her knees, the white vixen gazed firmly at him as she stalked towards him, ignoring the weapons pointed at her.

And she grinned, tugging the weapon from Zakk's fingers and wrapping her arm around his waist, stunning those around her. "Oh come on! You think the Order is here to really arrest us?"

That made everyone actually consider the situation…. Though the Order now had an agreement with the Pursuers, still it didn't mean that they would give up on the ones that had asked for protection over a year before. There was too much out there that was tracking down these rogues to let them run loose without the watchful eye of others… Time had no place for them, so they had to make their own spot in time.

"Cae…" Zakk cradled the halfling close to his body, arms wrapped around her as she re-holstered his weapon at his belt. "That was good." And he grinned happily against her short snowy white hair.

Raum blinked once and burst out laughing, "Okay… nice one… Point taken for the dramatic side of it… Can we get going now? Before we end up as barbecue?"

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Strong fingers curled over her lips, stopping her words before she even uttered them to tell Zakk to go to hell as she watched the weapon been pulled on Raum. When Samael pulled her back against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head, wrapping her up in his winged embrace. "Shh… Trust me…" He lifted her tightly against his powerful form, stepping back from sight. "Tell Raum it's alright…"

Doing as he suggested, she shuddered a little at seeing the Sinners and Fallen Ones being taken away by the Order, rage sparked in her at that. _How dare they…_ And the brush of his fingers down her forearm made her break from her thoughts and look up at him, uncertain what to make of this particular situation that seemed to capture them. Or so Keziah thought for herself… Clearly the Devil knew what was going on. '_You know don't you?'_

"Yes." Samael responded, eyes focusing towards the north of the Churchyard, as if he sensed something that was threatening to destroy his hard worked plans. "Asmodai is back… and he has friends… this time."

"You arranged this didn't you?"

"Yes… It was the only way. The safest way for them."

Him reading her thoughts was nothing new… It had always been that way… it always would be that way. If there was one certain thing, it was Samael hated Lucifer… And Keziah knew it. "Lucifer…"

Lips brushed over her dark indigo hair as the Devil brought her fingers up to the jewelled collar strung around his neck. "I just want to protect you from that bastard." _This is the only way I know how to do that…_"I won't let him take you like he did, Wolf…"

"Everytime you transform… I fade a little more… and find myself lost in a dream world." Her voice caught on that, Her eyes closed tightly at the thought of completely vanishing into nothingness. "I don't' want to vanish…"

"Have you ever thought you won't… that this is the dream? And the Dream is the reality?"

"Maybe your right?" For the first time, she actually considered his words, considered everything she had heard and seen, willing to take the chance and believe a little more in who she was. "I'm Uriel?"

"Yes." Gaining a soft purr from her, Samael smiled at that and his hands traced down her side, letting her fingers trace over the leather band around his throat. Feeling connected to her, through both the contract and the bond that stretched between them, a solid connection forged by blood…

"So you will let me?" This was his chance… He had just gotten her, been allowed to now be with her. He wouldn't let go again, yet he had a duty to protect her and the others from being stopped. The Order needed to take them to Boston, it was the safest way to travel. And Wolfram… They needed to find him…

"What will happen to me in the end?" Keziah questioned quietly, eyes peering towards the north, now able to feel the terrible arches of power that raced through the earth before the Fallen One. "I'm scared of that Sami…"

The old pet name made him flinch, remembering the child she had been only a few years ago… and the duties she had to her people even then. She was salvation for him. One that never judged him for his duty as Angel of Death… to being about the death of those who people loved. Many cursed his very existence, others were remarkably tolerant of him. This was destroying Keziah… and part of his heart. How can you love two parts of the same person? Keziah and Uriel, one and the same, yet their personalities were different… or so he thought.

"Maybe it doesn't really matter… because I got you…" She smiled warmly up at him… "Now let's go kick Lucifer's ass…"

"With pleasure my Lady, with pleasure…"

The crystals around his neck pulsed along with his heartbeat as he held Keziah in his arms, the rush of Miasma around them spiralling in black plumed vortex around them. His eyes watched the young girl's form seem to flicker, as if someone was tuning reality to a different channel. Fire rose from the earth, scorching heat of a solar origin sparked into life, mingling with the demonic miasma a fierce radiance twisted around them. Her fingers reached up to trace the circle of horn-bone around his head, brushing away his bangs to reveal it, "Let light bring salvation."

"Samael?" Keziah murmured, her silvery-gold eyes flickering closed she heard the howl of outrage come from her Contracted. "Sami?" She felt the warm fingers reached out to flutter over her cheek, her eyes flickered shut under the soft caress.

"Trust me…" A growling purr echoed in her ears, making her start at she felt lips brush over her jaw, "Please…" His clawed fingers drew her own up before her eyes, "Look." The claws that were usually there had vanished, the predator from her dreams had returned. The miasma dyed his wings pure black as it feed him its power, strengthening the body curled around her own. "We will get Lucifer… I promise."

"Justice… not revenge…" She managed to breathe out, her face pressed into his shoulder as he pulled her tightly into his warm body to turn her into his embrace… His teal eyes darkened to almost ebony gazed at her with a longing and passion that almost frightened her. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing you with me…" And Samael's silky lips brushed over hers for the first time.

Her eyes wide as she jerked back in surprise for this was the first time… he had ever done that. Her body being seized from her grasp as something buried deeply within her struggled to break free from her control. Consciousness seemed to be slipping away from her grasp, Keziah was flung into nothingness as indigo locks changed to gold and orange, like living fire, golden eyes blinked open.

"Salvation in the face of adversity." The low danger sound echoed in the Devil's throat as he touched her lightly, claws sliding over her throat with a lover's touch. His emotions were screaming at him, her scent strong in Samael's senses, calling the aggressive need for possession from within his primal heart. She was his. It was as simple as that. "My salvation."

'_Uriel help!'_

"Wolfram…" 

And burning wings erupted forth to cast the Bell Tower with the eternal light of God.

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**Oh a bit of a cliffy on that… The next chapter will be the first big battle… and also a bit more of the past is revealed… Sorry it took so long to get up… I just hope its good… **


	5. Chapter 5: Blood And Water

**Okay... sorry to all those who read my work, I have been sick over the last week... and so my creativity has been half destroyed... in an effort I made this as long as I could...  
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**Chapter Five: Blood and Water**

**Scene One: The Blue Hills Reservation, Boston, MA, 1928**

A full moon shone brightly against a sky full of stars, greeting him with its light. Beneath the moon were hills, descending into black forests that enclosed around him swiftly, Rayleigh held him closer. There was no safe ground here in the darkened glade, for there was no cover for them at all... His attention was stolen by the distant sounds of a car engine through the cold night. The thrum approaching rapidly from the east.

Hot warm blood coated his skin, soaking through Wolf's makeshift bandages, turned them a muted grey-brown and covered Ray's skin a colour to match his ginger hair. The metallic coppery emanation was sure to draw the hound dogs of the Fallen Ones to them in a moment if the winds shifted to position them upwind from the approaching vehicle. The Howling of dogs sounded across the rough terrain, way to close for comfort… It was lucky Rayleigh had managed to get them out the air-vent and back onto the surface, far from the enemy, dragging the limp body of Wolfram behind him.

Escape seemed relatively too easy… Lucifer was using them… to achieve an aim Rayleigh never wanted to find out the results from.

Pausing in his tracks, the soft groan enticed the feline down to his side, kneeling the Devil studied the youthful features with concern. Shuddering painfully, muscles tugging at the internal injuries with each shallow breath, emerald eyes remained closed, until finally they flicked open. In moonlight, they sparked with intelligence far beyond what this child should have known in his short lifetime. His mouth moved slightly, while he attempted to speak however no sound came out, but a barrage of powerful coughs. Sending him into a fit of choked gasps that couldn't bring enough oxygen into his starved body, while he rested heavily against his Contracted's side.

"Quiet now…" The Devil hushed him, wrapping his hand around the boy's lips to make sure he understood the command. "Save your strength…"

Confusion fluttered like butterflies across the pale features, his green eyes desperate to focus on the face of his friend. A hand closed around Ray's wrist weakly, using him as an anchor point to keep upright. Wolf's lips were working again like he needed to say something, yet was afraid of the words that would not come out.

Ears flickering at the distant sounds of both engine and dogs, the feline nodded slowly in response to Wolfram's pantomime of what he had also heard. "The sound of engines." A spark of fear rushed through him, too close… they didn't have enough time to get far enough away with Wolf in the condition he was in because of that bastard brother of him…. "We need to go…" His tail flicked in agitation, drifting back and forth behind him as his keen eyes scouted over the terrain ahead.

For several long moments, the boy remained motionless in his grip and he wondered whether Wolfram had drifted back into unconsciousness, when he abruptly nodded. Sliding under his arm, Rayleigh pulled him up cautiously to his feet. Sagging downwards, Wolf attempted to grip onto the feline's shoulders, his fingers so weak they could barely even grasp the thick woven jacket the cat was wearing.

"Just try to keep you feet, Wolf…" Ray whispered softly against the boy's cool skin, "I need you to stay awake…"

The basso rumble akin to thunder reverberated through the woods, the howling animals sending a chill down his spine as he tried to figure out a way to escape. And it made him smile as he figured out a solution to the problem of the scent of blood cling to them and also a course of action. Where there was a waterfall, there must be water and it could provide them with a good hiding place from the searchers if it was deep enough to fully submerge them under the surface.

Staggering forwards, the Cat Devil half-dragged half-carried him in the direction of the sounds saturating the air with noise and also a heavy layer of moisture supported by the humidity. As their feet slogged through the marshy understorey of the forest, the Cat realised just how sleepy his charge was and knew he wouldn't last long in this state. "Don't sleep yet."

Wolfram Gabriel seemed to stiffen slightly, taking more of his mass on his own as he struggled to fight down the waves of pain lancing through his nerves like hot needles. Unsuccessful he watched the pale blurred shape of his Contracted as they slid deeper into the darkness of the dappled undergrowth, pressing closer in around them. As if sensing his pain, the ginger haired feline holding him shifted in nearer. The boy frowned when the Devil refused to meet his emerald eyes…

"Ray?"

"Shh…" He hauled Wolfram towards the encroaching river, cutting a winding path through the timberlands.

Abruptly a barking shout reverberated through the moonlit woods, harsh crashes and angry words drifted from the Fallen Ones as their vehicle had stalled between ghostly trunks, the marshy ground making it impossible to go any further. They crashed through the undergrowth, scouring the place between the ruins of an old building, where the vent had reached the surface and the river. Rancorous curses followed a moment of silence, when they completed their destructive rummaging around of the wreckage and come up with absolutely nothing, but the blood left around the grate that now was wide open. Escape hadn't been too difficult… with help from a surprising source… Forever Ray would never think of that Fallen One again as an enemy as he had saved both their lives from Lucifer's anger.

Knowing his time was almost up, a flash of desperate fear raged through Rayleigh, heightening his senses and manipulating his strength with a rush of adrenalin, allowing him to heave the virtually limp form of the boy over his shoulders.

His whispered protests for Ray to leave him were drowned out, when he finally came to the edge of the riverbank and he dropped Wolfram unceremoniously into the brackish water with a splash. Unable to keep himself afloat, when his strength faded away from his muscles, the pale blonde sunk like a stone to the bottom. Diving in after him, the feline's arm brought him into a tight headlock, forcing his head above the rippling coffee liquid. Coughing weakly to clear water from his throat and lungs, he valiantly tried to help the tiny framed Devil by moving slowly to keep them afloat.

The remains of the building was set alight, the first glow form the flames dancing off to their left, the smoke rose from them to filter through the darkness… The light asking ghostly shadows over the earth, splitting the night apart with its light.

Rayleigh's grey eyes studied the rise visible of the edge of the crumbling bank to see the distant glow of headlights, silhouetting large lupine creatures, Pandemonium's Hounds. Their shaggy coats tangled limply around their owlish orbs seemed to stare directly out into the darkness, though he knew their night vision was poor and they could not see him looking back at them. A wispy blanket of smoke fanned out low over the earth, effectively covering their tracks in the leaf litter.

However to prevent discovery… they had to dive. The panted breath of the hounds grew louder in their ears and the boy flinched away from the sound as if physically burnt by it. The Devil looked up ahead at the fiery red that was speeding towards them and he realised the fire from the building was spreading. Already, he could taste the dank odour of smoke filling his nostrils and mouth, getting into everything to cut out all the other things but itself.

Rayleigh murmured, "Do you trust me?"

"I do," He gasped, fighting to remain conscious just a little longer.

"I'm not leaving you…" The feline assured him, "Then take a deep breath, we're going under."

And with that they submerged beneath the surface, leaving only ripples in their wake.

The shock of the cool river water on his over-heated skin took Ray's breath away, when they plunged beneath the surface. The quiet underwater seemed unreal after the jumble of frantic noises above as he heard the hounds race over the ridge and swept down to the water's edge. He couldn't hear much, even the thunder of the waterfall was muffled and couldn't see anything clearly, when the feline's gaze drifted upwards. Then his ears detected a slow whining and he cursed, his cry mingled with the shrieking of metal and wood as the gas tanks beneath the building exploded. He covered the boy's body with his own, vaguely felt quick jabs of pain stabbing into his back, but felt nothing after that as the shard speared through the water like harpoons. Pieces of metal finally stopped showering the ground and river around them and then there was silence.

He exhaled a little, watching the bubbles float away in a rising column of expended air. The tightness increased in his nose and throat, hurting fiercely while his chest still ached. It was just going to get worse and worse, he was going to get light-headed...

Water crept into Rayleigh's mouth and he forced himself to tear one of this hands from Wolfram to hold his nose and swallow. Chilled to the bone now, not from the water but from the deep terror rising within him, the feline focus on the warm body resting in his arms and the need to remain free.

In time, the boy went limp, his limbs beginning to drift with the current as the need for air became necessary for both of them. At that moment, Ray dived deeper, drawing Wolf with him into the mouth of a tunnel carved out from the silty bottom of the river. For it provided the only place that evaded the strong beam of light that suddenly swept through the depths, searching for them. And as they swam into the maw, the Devil felt the pull of water against him and they were sucked out into a total blackness of earth and stone and into the unknown…

Above them, the stars moved their slow arcs in the sky… hoping something would come up.

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**Scene Two: New York, NY, 1915**

_White passed out off her, stealing her identity and name as it fled…The darkness surrounded her like the vortex of a black hole. She was falling. From where, she didn't know. Her destination was still yet undetermined. She knew nothing and yet she knew everything. She was at peace and yet there was war. There was a sensation of openness and yet she was suffocating. _

_Keziah was falling. _

_The darkness that surrounded her contained pinpricks of light that elongated as she rushed by. She knew from where she had come. Where she was going was the question. It was like her dream. Fear smothered her causing waves of adrenalin to crash through her body._

_A sheer cry fell down upon the earth from Heaven, she were an angel her wings suddenly clipped, Keziah impacted hard with the ground. Her body threw trash about, which skittered away, jumping as if frightened by her also sudden appearance out of nowhere. Slowly her consciousness returned, thoughts a chaotic storm that spiral out of control.  
_

_"Who am I?" She whispered petrified, moonlight shone into the alleyway like a searching beam, trying to locate something, which did not exist in its reach. Stared at the moon dully, watching it orbit the world in its rhythmic turning, she felt the pangs of pain rush through her battered body. To this world she was something of a myth, but the moment didn't last as the powers screamed away from her. All the strength she had known was gone…_

_Leaving Keziah wailing as every thought, every dying memory was wrenched away by a force so strong she was flung into the mouldy wall with a wet thunk. The girl was alone then, too alone and when she screamed again, the silence was instantly shattered around her as she felt the world bubble up to consume her. Mortality was too high a price to pay… _

_Yet, she resisted, pushing it away with all her strength, all the strength she had known previously was nothing compared to what lingered beneath the surface, untapped and wanting to get free. Barely able to stay conscious, the Archangel had certainly taken some damage from the previous battles, now she could hardly stand. Yet stand she did, though her body was beaten and raw flesh lay exposed in areas, her eyes were stormy with determination. Merely a child of barely four years… _

"_My Archangel, my own." A deep voice purred softly, a shadow detaching from the wall to scoop her up into strong arms. _

_Lips brushing over her forehead, wings cloaking around her body, though dripping blood upon her, the child reached out to stroke the soaked feathers. Her bright eyes focused on his handsome, demonic face… yet fingertips found the collar strung around his neck… "Devil…" Pale silvery gold eyes blinked up at him, the crying abruptly stopped… and a soft giggles escaped the little girl as her fingers reached up to touch his cheek lightly… "Sami…"_

"_This is the Beginning of the End…"_

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**Scene Three: The Blue Hills Reservation, Boston, MA 1928**

Tracking the bloodtrail to the edge fo the water, Samael growled as he stared at the beasts that clambered around the back searching for the pair that had managed thankfully to evade them.Twirling to face the hounds that rushed over the muddy earth, his vivid teal eyes narrowed on each one of them, studying them intently for weaknesses, plotting the most efficiently bloodless way possible to remove them from his escape route.

Fangs shimmered in the amber firelight. Thundering out his rage, anger welled up from within to becloud his mind in a red haze. Unsheathed claws sliced through the first wave of feral brutes swarmed over him. These stupid lower cast Devils needed to learn their place. Like furious insects around an intruder in their hive, the Samael knocking them down with powerful blows that harnessed an unworldly strength. They deserved no mercy... they were the Hounds of Hell, slaughters of millions.

Abruptly dropping to all fours, his teeth found an unprotected throat and a flood of bitter fluid slid into his mouth at the source of the punctures. The taste swept over his tongue and burnt caustically down his throat, prompting the constriction of his throat muscles to prevent anymore passing to his stomach. Tightly clenching his upper and lower jaws around his captive, his head whipped sharply in stalwart twists, tearing out the jugular with the rapid movement of razor-edged fangs. Blood sprayed hotly over his entire length and the bodies of those pressed in around his in a reeking throng of convulsing flesh. Also splattered over the far wall, travelling downwards in a trickling trails of extensive lines of sickly colours.

His horror vanished, blasted away by his unbridled animosity directed at them and the rest of the world for the injustices so frequently found in his life. Some of his actions even frightened him with the simple cruelty Samael had slain the outlandish Devils, their shrieks of pain searing his ears. They had never lived… From each corpse rose a miasma of evil, swathing the place in a tide of darkness, one that strengthened him further.

Agony ripped across his back as one of the monsters latched on with needle-sharp canines. Rolling belly up, the albino used his own weight to squash the beast beneath his, fracturing ribs in the process. Yet its grip didn't let up, squirming despite the death-grip on his back, his wings cracked the beast's head firmly against a stone rising above the surrounding sands and old paving still buried under the shifting sediments.

Something clicked inside Samael's head, insistently throwing itself to the foremost of his thoughts. Something wanted to be let out... a feral rage, greater than before, battle-lust, and the need to avenge all those who had fallen to these hounds of the Fallen One Lucifer, for lack of a better description for creatures that didn't even care about their own kind. The dark haired Devil howled, rushing forward and tackled the closest dog and checking it into a couple more, bowling them over with the force of a hurricane. This was not murder, it was justice for innocents these things had slaughtered for nothing more than pleasure.

Letting loose another howl, relentlessly he swung at the remaining drones. A ghostly echo of his cry reverberated around the glen, as the wraith seemed to lend him its strength to do the justice of a judgement something told his was right. In all of the fifteen pack members that had followed his into the alleyway, none were left standing. Like a whirlwind, Samael destroyed had them all with a burst of blinding speed, teeth and claws finding their marks easily on the putrid beasts, their whimpers and shaky whines went unheard by his ears.

With a sudden burst of speed, swiftly he took off, following the call of his Contractor… She was calling for him… Rayleigh and Wolfram were on their own...

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Stars.

Seen from the confines of a planet became flickering symbols of a universe teeming with life, beckoning warmly with the offer of adventure and discovery, of dreams fulfilled, of possibilities beyond comprehension. Seemingly unreachable to any bound to the earth…

The moon shone down through the trees, casting bright leaf-shadows that the wind ruffled over every surface. The glade was not still. The sounds of movement lay within the ring of gnarled trees ravaged by the slow passage of time. The grate of metal on metal as a pair of thin light swords and a heavier pair of scimitars met again and again within the arena, they played out a deadly dance. Sparks of silver let loose from their weapons as it clashed with each other, while the shadows hid the ferocity burning in their eyes.

The two combatants were magnificent in their swordplay, both masters of the art, from a time long forgotten. The dance seemed to flow back and forth between the two, sometimes with the male pushing, but more often with the younger in the lead, the fiery Archangel daring him to strike. The duel's speed and intensity built the pace accelerating with the rhythm created between the two fighters. The two combatants blurred, the intensity flowing around them like a river sweeping down over the edge of a cliff in a cascading pattern of light.

She jumped, defying gravity, like a hawk taking off from the ground as her wings, fiery and shimmering, flared to keep her up. Her body twisted and writhed as she flung herself somersaulting through the air, then opened herself to strike the boy in mid air, placing her at his back. Yet, his blades came up in a flicker of silvery light, deflecting the twin light swords cutting a swift path through the soft mellow breeze.

She dropped into a crouch as he spun around, blades whipping at waist height and whispered a slice just above her ducked head. Noticing a glint of metal blade flashing toward his mid-section, he quickly jumped back to escape the silent attack. He parried the offhanded blow with a sweep of swords that deflected the shot and he brushed the second blade away as she pushed off the ground and twisted to avoid the scimitars as they came down under her feet.

"Why do you play with me, Uriel?" 

Every inch of him a shining example of dignified commander as he moved gracefully to counter her double blow that knocked him back a step with the sheer power behind it. His blue eyes glittered dangerously, and her breath caught in her throat for an instant at the power in that gaze alone, this was Lucifer.

"Becase you hurt Wolfram! You tortured our brother!"

With a fluid cut of the scimitar that would have severed the Fallen One's neck had he not blocked again. Twisting the block, she brought his arm down, held it straight, extended to force him a step back to give her room.

"Our brother?" There was a single moment of confusion as he gazed at her…

And then there was no time for more repartee as Lucifer spun and leapt forward, with a movement almost too fast for the eye to follow, and swung his first blade in a powerful overhand blow with deadly precision. Luckily, the girl was quite familiar with the male's duelling style, and parried the strike easily. He spun and swung upwards and again the light swords were there to deflect the blow.

His attack intensified, as he poured all his great strength, both within the energies swirling around them and from the innate power of his experience into the blows he placed upon her. She blocked a series of quick slashes, amazingly with a burst of speed and strength. She was forced to focus all her skills on evading the raw power of the assault. Lucifer stepping forward and weaving an intricate pattern with his curved blades, impacting with her lighter pair in a complex point-counterpoint that gained advantage for neither of them but seemed, for some reason, to please the blonde male as he watched her appreciatively.

He leapt and spun, trying to propel his pale coloured opponent back toward the ring of trees to gain a terrain advantage. Uriel's movements as smooth as poured liquid, sidestepped his manoeuvre, allowed a sudden inspiration to dictate her response. A cold breeze swept over the two sweating bodies as they fell more into the patterns of their duel.

"Yeah, you're my brother, Luce." She mocked, and she spun to counter his next blow, darted past it and attacked.

He abruptly stopped, returned his scimitars to his belt and stepped forward. She was slower to pause than he to pull out of the duel. Spinning the razor-sharp blades in her fingers, she avoided the next blow when a waves of dark energy captured her….

"You mock me..."

"No... You are my Brother!"

A rush of violent sensations incapacitated her as the sensations faded, and she wasn't aware of anything but the intense waves of emotion and physical weakness plaguing her. They pounded against her, one after the other, until she could hear herself screaming for them to stop. Images from her past hit her in rapid succession, fragmented and distorted. She gasped, overwhelmed by the onslaught of memories and sensations that combined in a whirlwind of sharp sorrow to absolute joy. Lucifer was using her… He knew… she was weak… held mortal for so long, much of her holy energy had fled…

**_SAMAEL!_**

There was darkness. The fall was more intense. She felt more alone and yet though she knew how to break these feelings the answer didn't come to her. She was once again surrounded and suffocating, yet completely and utterly alone. It was like before... yet different... she remembered thi sfamiliar sensation as a child...

Then she became aware of something else…

She couldn't breathe.

Fire.

Heat.

Such intense heat, like in the days of fire just passed. Looking up with tears in her eyes, she saw a faint glimpse of the sky beyond the burning flames… no they were just trees and then, an Angel descending from above. She was howling. Then her strength of voice fled like the dusk entering into the pitch-black cocoon of full night…

And she noticed for the first time that it was raining. No, pouring was a more fitting term to describe the raging storm, which had drenched her without her noticing. Overhead, thick clouds covered the entire sky and occasionally, thunder could be heard amid the howling winds of the storm. It was a testament to the powers that were being summoned, by the Will… Lucifer was being wrenched back by an assault of holy energy that lanced from her open hand that thrust him away from her. The spark of light calling attention to herself...

The night was split apart by the shock of blinding white as a bolt sizzled across the sky, cracking with an audible rumble that vibrated through the earth into her weary bones. The rain was pouring hard from the merciless skies above as the albino stared up at the dark shape silhouetted against a backdrop of a gloomy forest. Blood and ebony flesh merged into the form of a Devil, hell born with the fires of passion blazing in eyes of a clear night sky. Shards of blue-green obsidian stared at her with the intensity she had come to expect from this male, this awesome creature that embodied the night itself. He had come for her...

"URIEL!"

She felt a lone tear slip down her cheek, mingling with the rain that pelted down upon her. Even in the centre of the storm insects chirped all around them, like a symphony of sound wafting by them with the gentle breeze in opposition to the roll of blasts in the upper atmosphere. A sweet scent of wildflower entered her nostrils softened by the moisture of droplets, breathing deep, the girl wished her broken soul could feel as pure and untainted.

Lucifer... had done his job... distracting them from the real mission...

* * *

**Scene Four: New Zion Ruins**

Slowly some of the stones blocking the entrance shifted, sending tiny avalanches of pebbles down in skittering streams across the cobble pavers of grey slate. The sound the only noise in the long chamber as it bounced back and forth between the walls. A hand pushed through the minute gaps between the larger of the upper parts of the stack and nudged more to create a larger space, just big enough for a slender body to slither through to reach into the cave and pulled herself through.

Dust spiralled away, filling the space in a matter of seconds, while it expanded into a cloud of harsh coarse granules. Faint coughing reverberated around the large interior as the bad air hit her lungs, burning them and Rayleigh's nose with the unspeakable horror of the metallic burn that still lingered after all this time in the atmosphere confined within what could still turn out to be a coffin. The pale Cat Devil twisted his body swiftly so he lay on his belly, manoeuvring his hips through the last torn edges of the hole and he spilled down across the rocks with a light thump. "Ouch…" The kitty winced, rubbing at his bottom. "Stupid rocks."

Dusting himself off as best he could, he returned to crouch back down, his hands reached through the hole to grab hold of Wolfram's shirt and drag him through the gap. The blonde was unconscious and wouldn't be waking up for sometime after the beating the poor kid had taken at the hands of Abaddon. They had barely managed to escape with the assistance of the spy within the Fallen One's midst... and now from the Dogs thanks to Samael...

There was a tiny beam of light that brightened the room to a barely visible glow that highlighted the designs etched into every possible surface around the entire gallery supported by massive pillars. These rose above the floor in arching columns of pure black marble that bent the artificial illumination around them to swallow it hole, like a black hole engulfing anything that passed the point of no return of the event horizon. This place, held some of the remains from the ancient city of New Zion, which had been destroyed and buried in Lucifer's revolt against God. After all this time they had be discovered yet again.

Tiny droplets of crimson blood lay smeared over the rocks where he had pulled Wolf into the chamber and also in a fine trail leading behind him as he helped heft the child towards the dais. From the deep darkness into the diminutive pool of light flickering through the little gap in the ceiling. The reddish tint and the faint odour of smoke reminded him that above there was an inferno running rampant over the Hideout. They were destroying any evidence they had been here, smoking them out if they could from this sanctuary of sorts.

"What are they playing at?" Rayleigh growled, his ears stiffly down against his head in annoyance… "I swear Lucifer chose this place because of what is down here…"

And a shadow moved across the stone floor, dark chocolate eyes watching them with interest… The wild card was ready to be played.


End file.
